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Categories Faith, Reflections

Observations from a Sunday morning

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On Singing Men:

I love songs in which men lead out and women echo. Unfortunately, our church has had a dearth of musically inclined men, so we’ve had to make do with having the men sing with a female lead singer and then have the rest of the women echo. Not only does this not sound quite as nice as having a solely male lead, it also tends to confuse the guys.

In the last couple of years, we’ve added two men to our worship team. Neither are really comfortable with leading out in singing–but this week they did so anyway on one of those songs with a male lead and a female echo. Beautiful.

On me singing loudly:

I sing loudly. It’s just a matter of fact. I love to sing and I can’t seem to hear how loud I am. I’ve been told that I’m audible all around the sanctuary–but I’ve never paid much attention to it.

Today, I suddenly realized that I am indeed rather the loudest singer in the congregation. Except for maybe my dad. It was during one song in particular where I was just singing my heart out, when it was like a stopper had been released from my ears and I suddenly heard myself as the congregation might hear me. It sounded like me and my dad (we sit on opposite sides of the sanctuary–me in the front row on the middle of the right side, he on the fourth row at the far left side) were trying to out-sing one another.

Interesting. Not sure what I should do about that–or if I should do something about that. But it is interesting.

On the sermon:

LCF’s pastor had a total thyroidectomy a couple of weeks ago. He had nodules that sure looked like cancer. A needle biopsy was inconclusive. They wanted the thyroid out. He got the pathology report back at the beginning of this week. The nodules were completely benign. (Another member of our church had the same surgery the day after Pastor Jason–for the same reason. Her pathology report came back…negative too. Praise the Lord!)

Anyway, long story short, Pastor Jason’s voice is still recovering from his surgery, so we had a “guest” preacher–a man from our congregation. Brian shared powerfully about the sovereignty and goodness of God in the midst of suffering. He closed with Hebrews 12:1-3, particularly verses 2 and 3:

“…looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.”

It was a wonderful reminder to fix our eyes on Christ rather than on our circumstances, recognizing that God is sovereign over and works good through our circumstances.

On the guys who serve:

Looking at the bulletin today, I realized that one of either my two little brothers or my pseudo-brother Steve are the leaders in Children’s Church almost every week.

John and Steve lead at “Rock Solid”, our midweek kids ministry. John teaches a children’s Sunday School class. Timothy babysits for small groups every week. All three serve as ushers (taking up offering, doing greeting, opening up and locking down the church building). All three serve on the sound ministry.

Which means they pretty much make their rounds between three Sunday morning ministries and a handful of midweek ones. These young men are to be highly commended–but I also worry that 1) they will get burned out rather quickly and 2) this will cause mass disaster when my brothers leave for boot camp in the fall and spring.

It would do us well to recognize the great service these young men do for our body–and to come alongside them and learn how we can fill the holes they will leave in their wakes.

Thanks, guys.

On the Sustaining Grace of God:

In the Sunday School I’m in, we’re going through II Peter.

In my personal quiet times, I’m reading through the Bible following a plan from The Standard Publishing Company.

I was struck by a theme in this morning’s II Peter passage and a couple of days ago’s reading from the Psalms.

“For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.”
II Peter 3:5-7

“You who laid the foundations of the earth…
You covered it with the deep as with a garment…
He sends the springs into the valleys…
He waters the hills from His upper chambers;
The earth is satisfied with the fruit of Your works.
He causes the grass to grow for the cattle,
And vegetation for the service of man…
You make darkness and it is night…
You open Your hand, they are filled with good.
You hide Your face, they are troubled;
You take away their breath,
they die and return to their dust.
You send forth Your Spirit, they are created;
And You renew the face of the earth.”
Psalm 104:5-6, 10, 13-14, 20, 28-30

The truth is that God is sovereign in creating, ordering, and sustaining all that is.

Even now, as I type these words, God is actively sustaining the activities of the universe. By His hand the rain falls to the ground, the stars shine, the planets continue their orbits. By His hand I draw these breaths, my sister works on her homework, and my roommate sleeps. By His hand babies are being born, sinners are being reborn, and saints are being welcomed into everlasting joy. By His hand an alcoholic stays alive to continue drinking, an atheist to write a book “disproving” God, a pornographer to produce pornography.

We all, regardless of anything that we have done, are recipients of the sustaining grace of God.

That truth should cause us to rejoice with exceeding joy and shake in absolute terror. His grace is abundant, but should He at any time withdraw it, the devastation would be total.

May I ever be thankful that God has poured out His full wrath on Christ Jesus, who stood in my place–so that only His sustaining grace remains for me.

Categories Recap

Recap (May 9-15)

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On bekahcubed

Book Reviews:

  • 703: How I lost more than a quarter ton and gained a life by Nancy Makin

    “The title, or actually the subtitle, was more than enough inducement for me to grab 703: How I lost more than a quarter ton and gained a life off the new books shelf at the library. As a reader and a Registered Dietitian, I am curious about people’s weight-loss stories. This story of a morbidly obese, 703 pound woman and her weight loss sounded fascinating.”

  • Convergence: Spiritual Journeys of a Charismatic Calvinist by Sam Storms

    “I knew Sam Storms from a book of his that I bought at a library book sale. One Thing: Developing a Passion for the Beauty of God is a defense of Christian Hedonism recommended by no less than John Piper himself, who proclaims on the front cover that “Sam Storms is right.” The book (One Thing) is well-written and theologically insightful–and Storms is referenced by the Reformed “thinking” bloggers I enjoy so much–so I was inclined to think well of Storms. Then I heard that he was a charismatic–and had written a book about it. I knew I had to read it.”

On the web

News to take note of:

  • Addiction tied to women’s menstrual cycles:

    “A woman’s perception of other kinds of rewards—such as money, food and sex—may also vary during her menstrual cycle. In a 2007 study researchers at the NIH scanned women’s brains using functional MRI as the women played slot-machine games. They found that women’s reward circuitry was more active when they won jackpots during the estrogen-governed phase of their cycles than during the progesterone-infused phase that follows. The ebb and flow of female hormones could thus have broad effects on the perception of pleasures and incentives, influencing women’s motivation to engage in a wide variety of behaviors.”

Thought-provoking posts:

  • According to a Wyoming sailor, saying Obama is spending money like a drunken sailor is unfair:

    “I object and take exception to everyone saying that Obama and Congress are spending money like a drunken sailor. As a former drunken sailor, I quit when I ran out of money.”

    HT: Twenty-Two Words

Videos worth seeing:

  • Even squirrels (evil beasts) can be used to bring God glory.

    • HT: 22 Words

  • Go, Wayne Grudem! (I’m a real fan.)

    HT: Desiring God
Categories Homemaking

The Savvy Seamstress

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The savvy seamstress knows the power of a mock-up.

Imagine trying to make a dress out of this lovely fabric

Pattern and Fabric

to fit on this (lovely but unconventionally sized) body.

Me

Let’s just say that the pattern rarely fits.

So a savvy seamstress makes a muslin mock-up. That way, she can discover that she needs to use a size 16 front bodice piece and a size 8 back bodice piece, for example, without making any expensive mistakes on her pretty fabric.

Of course, a really savvy seamstress hates to waste a good muslin bodice that now fits quite well.

So sometimes she whips the muslin into a little something she can wear in real life too. Like this fun little nightgown.

Homemade Nightgown

Not to toot my own horn, or anything.

**I have not even cut out the dress fabric yet. However, thanks to today’s work, I now know which sizes to cut and am thoroughly familiar with how the bodice is put together. I hope to complete the dress sometime next week.**

Categories Book Notes

Walk in the Spirit

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Notes on Francis Chan’s
Forgotten God
Chapter 6: Forget about His will for your life!

“I think a lot of us need to forget about God’s will for my life. God cares more about our response to His Spirit’s leading today, in this moment, than about what we intend to do next year. In fact, the decisions we make next year will be profoundly affected by the degree to which we submit to the Spirit right now, in today’s decisions.”
-Francis Chan, Forgotten God, page 120

I finished my last semester of classes on Monday. I still have a thesis to write, but my classroom days (at least for my MS) are done.

It’s terrifying. This is the last step of a dozen alternate routes, contingency plans I’d prepared. Now I’m left without a plan.

What’s more, the biggest dreams of my heart seem so far out of reach. Doors have been shut and paths redirected.

Faced for the first time in my life with no plan, without even a feasible dream, I cried to my mother–“What am I supposed to do? I’m going to be done with classes. I need to get myself a job. I might need to relocate. I need to make all sorts of life decisions. But I don’t even know what I want–much less what God’s will is.”

While I’m not a fan of personal prophecy, at that moment, I would have given anything for a direct word from the Lord telling me what to do with my next five years. My mom, being a women of wisdom, didn’t attempt such counsel.

Instead, she observed: “I think you do the next thing.”

I finish my thesis. I attain my MS. After that, who knows. For now, I just focus on the next step.

It’s completely unsatisfying advice. I would have much preferred something more long-reaching and with less immediacy.

What’s God’s will for my life? I ask myself. I ask God. I start writing out the options and begging God to just check His preferences:

Married or single?

Community nutrition or clinical nutrition? (Or maybe that “Wife” and “Mom” position I want so badly?)

Midwest or coasts?

Current church or different church?

“Give me direction,” I beg.

And He has. But it’s not the kind of direction I seek. It’s more like my mom’s undramatic “You do the next thing.”

“Trust Me,” God says. “To those who are faithful in the little, I grant much,” He reminds me.

I start to wonder: Does God ever lead by giving a five-year plan? Francis Chan doesn’t seem to think so–and I’m not sure Scripture really supports the idea either.

God tells Abraham to pack up and leave–but Abraham has to be obedient, listening to God for each step along the way. God leads Israel out of Egypt–but instead of telling them their path in advance, He guides them via a cloud and a pillar of smoke. Paul is continuously redirected by the Spirit along his missionary journeys.

And even when God revealed the destination in advance, He was pretty adamant that it was to be reached using His means as an individual or nation followed His day-to-day leading. Case in point? Abraham’s promised son and Abraham and Sarah’s botched attempt to make it happen on their own.

What is God’s will for my life? To read Scripture, it would appear that His will for my life is that I walk by the Spirit daily (Gal 5:16), heeding His voice as He directs the seemingly mundane decisions of my life: the attitude I have as I work, the way I respond to an unexpected situation, the people I talk to and what I say to them throughout the day.

The Spirit’s will for my life is evident in Scripture: He desires to conform me to the image of Christ (Rom 8:29). He desires that I put to death the deeds of the flesh (Rom 8:13). He desires that I be filled with the Spirit rather than with drunkenness or dissipation (Eph 5:18). He desires that I hold fast to good doctrine (2 Tim 1:13-14). He desires that I set my mind on the things of God (Rom 8:5).

So why am I so intent on getting a five-year plan from God while paying little attention to the plan for right now that He has made perfectly clear?

Lord, forgive me for disregarding Your direction for today in pursuit of Your plan for tomorrow. Help me to live each day in step with Your Spirit.

“If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”
Galatians 5:25

Forgotten God here.)

Categories Family History, Thankful Thursday

Thankful Thursday: Family History

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Today I’m thankful…

…for the story of God’s mercy, poured out upon my family from generation to generation

…for the heritage of teachers in our family–from Mary Helen Nelson (my great-grandma) to Carol Pierce (my grandma) to Kathy, Alice, Martha, Rachel, Patty, and my mother.

Mary Helen Nelson's Teaching Certificate

Mary Helen Nelson’s Teaching Certificate, 1918

…for the generations before who compiled family trees or otherwise collected memorabilia (Special thanks to Ernest Clay, who collected the Clay history back to my great, great, great grandfather Claus Nelson aka Charles Nelson Clay born in Sweden in 1822.)

…for the pictures my grandma has collected, including helpful notes whenever possible

Grandpa Pierce and Grandpa Cook

Great-Grandpa Frank Ernest Pierce and Great-Grandpa Orval Anthony Cook

Note on back of previous picture

Note on back of previous picture

…for the scanner I was pleasantly surprised to discover that my grandma possesses, probably thanks to an aunt (of mine). I spent the last couple of days scanning scads of family documents (not that I’m anywhere close to having them all.) Now I’ve got enough documents to keep me plugging away on my genealogy/family history stuff for another good while.

…for the stories both Grandma and Grandpa shared with me during this recent visit. My notebooks continue to collect the wealth, ready to be shared at some point–and now my new MP3 player contains a segment of one of Grandpa’s stories too.

Thankful Thursday banner

“Give ear, O my people, to my law;
Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings of old,
Which we have heard and known,
And our fathers have told us.
We will not hide them from their children,
Telling to the generation to come the praises of the LORD,
And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done.

For He established a testimony in Jacob,
And appointed a law in Israel,
Which He commanded our fathers,
That they should make them known to their children;
That the generation to come might know them,
The children who would be born,
That they may arise and declare them to their children,
That they may set their hope in God,
And not forget the works of God,
But keep His commandments”

Psalm 78:1-7

Categories Family & Friends

When Grandma was a girl

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Have you ever stopped to wonder what life was like when your grandma was a girl?

Have you ever stopped to wonder what your grandma was like when she was a girl?

Somehow, I think we can be tempted to look at pictures from the past and hear the stories our grandparents tell and forget that once upon a time they really were children. My grandparents weren’t just once a miniature grandma and grandpa. They were children, with childish ways of looking at the world and childish dreams and aspirations.

I’d never really thought about it until one day when I was poking through my grandma’s old papers and found a composition notebook from her health class–in the 1940s.

Health Book

Reading her penned notes in the margins, I suddenly became aware of grandma as a girl.

World War 2 was raging, and Grandma was apparently quite caught up in the war effort.

“Hitler is horrid, abominable, cruel and absolutely detestable” she wrote in a fit of zeal. She wasn’t at all fond of the axis powers–and didn’t think they deserved a capital letter. No “Axis” for Carol Marie Pierce. She’d write it “axis.” And she declared, “Let’s not bury out hatchets till we bury the axis.” In another location, she wrote that “Hirohito, Mussolini, Hitler: ought to be shot.” Shot was underlined no less than four times–and her parenthetical statement (“They will be too”) afterwards indicated her confidence in the Allied troups.

Her patriotism cam out as she scrawled “V for Victory” and “U.S. strongest nation in the World”. Douglas MacArthur, who apparently was somewhere in Australia, must have been a hero, for Grandma penned a short note to him and Mrs. MacArthur: “I admire your courage.” She encouraged others to support the war effort, with her injunction to “Buy War Bonds and Stamps.”

That’s not to say that all her notes were about the war. She used her best cursive to write out her full name “Carol Marie Pierce” and location “Walnut, Neb”. She wrote of her dislike of studying health. And on occasion, she realized that her brackets could make a nice little face–and spent several lines drawing bracket faces.

Bracket Faces

It’s odd. That face looks familiar. I’m sure I’ve seen it before. In fact, I’ve drawn it before.

And suddenly I realize that my grandma was once a girl–just like me.


Categories Reading My Library

A Repentant Reader

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I officially repent of all that I have ever said against children’s counting books.

When done right, counting books can be delightful, as evidenced by Ten Little Wishes: A Baby Animal Counting Book, Arlene Alda’s 1,2,3: What do you see?, and now Lena Anderson’s Tea for Ten

Lena Anderson Picture Books

Tea for Ten tells the rhyming story of Hedgehog, feeling lonely, sitting at her table, wishing that her friends would drop by so “she wouldn’t be just ONE”. Thankfully, some of her friends do stop in–and Hedgehog prepares a sweet tea for ten.

Lena Anderson’s picture books have an endearing cast of characters that might be stuffed animals or might be real animals, but are cute and cuddly either way.

Both Hedgehog, Pig, and the Sweet Little Friend and Hedgehog’s Secret are entertaining and have delightful illustrations–but Lena Anderson’s crowning glory (in my humble opinion) is Tick-Tock.

Tick-Tock includes the same familiar characters as Anderson’s other books–but this is another teaching book. In fact, it’s a counting book of sorts.

The story begins at one o’clock, with Uncle Will taking a string of youngsters to the park. At two, they climb a tree. At three, someone falls off the tree. At four… And so the story goes. At seven o’clock, the kids get ready for bed. Every hour afterward, at least one youngster wakes up for one reason or another–until at last the clock strikes twelve and Uncle Will falls asleep in exhaustion.

Like the rest of the books, Tick-Tock is told in rhyme. It’s a short book, but fun–and the illustrations are perfect. Each page has a clock face on it, with the hands pointed at the appropriate time and the numeral for the hour beside it. This is a perfect book for teaching numbers and the basics of telling time.

Reading My Library

For more comments on children’s books (counting and otherwise), check out Carrie’s blog Reading My Library, which chronicles her and her children’s trip through the children’s section of their local library.


Categories Family & Friends

Personal Medical Adviser

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A Facebook message to my sister sent rather early this morning:

Anatomy Question:
Just wondering–what organs/things of interest might be found immediately inferior to the left costal margin, almost on the side of the body? I woke up this morning feeling a weird knob down there. I tried to see if there was something comparable on the right side, but couldn’t identify anything similar.

A text conversation around 10am:

Her
Spleen. Do you have mono?

Me
Maybe. Dunno. Heh.

Her
Are you tired and do you have lymph nodes? Is the lump painful?

Me
Not tired anymore than I have been for most of the semester.

Noticed lymph nodules a week ago. Currently unspectacular.

No pain unless I poke it or lie on it funny. Then only mild discomfort.

Her
Sounds like mono to me

Me
Nice. Do I do something about it or just sit tight?

Her
Eh

The delights of having a personal medical adviser available by phone, e-mail, Facebook, or text. Disadvantage? Since she’s related, she can’t actually diagnose or treat me (and, of course, a diagnosis might require a bit more than a text conversation–like actually seeing me, perhaps.)

So I’d have to go to a non-related healthcare provider if I wanted a real diagnosis.

But since my medical adviser says “Eh” (and I’m beginning a vacation/thesis work summer), I’ll hold off on seeing a doctor just yet–and proceed to give my sister medical power of attorney as planned.

Addendum: Now if I could just stop poking that little knobby, I might feel just fine!

Categories Book Notes, Faith

Intimate Stillness

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Notes on Francis Chan’s
Forgotten God
Chapter 5: A Real Relationship

“While Jesus didn’t have to deal with emails, voice mails, or texts, He certainly understood what it meant to have multitudes of people pursuing Him at once. At any given moment of the day, people were looking for Jesus. Because of the priority of His relationship with His Father, He found ways to escape. He took the time to focus and be quiet (Mark 1:35). He was willing to remove Himself from people’s reach in order to pray and commune with God the Father. Our lack of intimacy often is due to our refusal to unplug and shut off communication from all others so we can be alone with Him.
-Francis Chan, Forgotten God, page 109

Why might I not be experiencing intimacy with the Holy Spirit? Chan suggests that one reason might be the loudness of our lives.

It’s funny–the very night I first read this chapter (before I read it), I was settling into my bathwater, singing a song of worship to the Lord and picking up a book to read, when I experienced that little nudge in my soul. “Don’t read, Rebekah. Just spend some time with Me.”

I was sorely tempted to disobey. I’d been so busy that day. I hadn’t had any time for pleasure reading. Bath time was my time–to relax and to read a book.

But I reminded myself that I’d said I wanted the Spirit. And if I truly want the Spirit, I must be obedient when He speaks.

I set the book down and spent the next twenty minutes or so in prayer–just communing with God and enjoying His presence. It was wonderful.

How often, I wonder, does the Holy Spirit speak to me, urging me into relationship with Him? How often do I ignore or not even hear His still small voice, so consumed am I with my blogs and books and papers to write and grade? How often do I rush through our morning breakfast date (I spend time in the Word over breakfast every morning) because I want to get on with my day?

Jesus, for all His busyness and all the demands on His time, made time to be alone with God.

If I truly desire the Spirit of God to be active in my life, I must be willing to rearrange my schedule, to make time to be still with Him.

**Let me make clear–there is no way that you or I can make the Holy Spirit move in our lives. The truth is that if you are a child of God, your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. He dwells within you. But I believe that by our hardheartedness we can ignore the Holy Spirit–leading to a failure to experience His presence (even though He is present). Thus, the failure to experience the Holy Spirit is not the Holy Spirit’s failure to be present–but our failure to be sensitized to His presence. The disciplines of the Christian life, including that of stillness, can serve to sensitize our eyes and our hearts so that we can see and feel the Holy Spirit’s presence.**

(See more notes on Forgotten God here.)

Categories Book Notes, Faith

An Addendum on “Unveiling Islam”

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A friend recently brought an article about Ergun Caner, co-author of Unveiling Islam, to my attention. This article, published in Christianity Today, reports on a recent blog-flurry that accuses Ergun Caner of exaggerating his Muslim past. Among these potential exaggerations or untruths are the claims that Caner grew up in Turkey in a devout Muslim home, and trained as a jihadist to the age of 15. While the only of these claims made in Unveiling Islam is that Caner grew up in a devout Muslim home (in Ohio), the suggestion that Caner has exaggerated or falsified information regarding his Muslim upbringing is troubling.

As many of you know, I recently read Unveiling Islam and commented chapter by chapter here on bekahcubed. In light of this article, I have included the following addendum in each of my posts on Unveiling Islam:

Ergun Caner’s testimony as a converted Muslim has been challenged by several bloggers who claim that he has grossly exaggerated the extent of his Muslim upbringing. Readers of this book ought to be aware that the Caners may or may not have the experiential knowledge of Islam that they claim to have, and should therefore be careful to test the statements found in this book against other reliable sources.

I find this new information regarding Caner to be quite puzzling–since I felt that in Unveiling Islam the Caners treated Islam with a sympathy uncommon among fundamentalist right-wingers. (Classifying Ergun Caner as a fundamentalist right-winger does not seem out of place, considering that he is currently the president of Liberty University’s seminary.)

Why might Caner have felt a need to lie about his past? Certainly, he doesn’t make outrageous claims regarding Islam (or at least, not as outrageous as many claims made by those who fear Islam). I don’t see any reason for such behavior.

Nevertheless, this certainly calls Caner’s testimony as a believer and credibility as a source of information about Islam into question.

As readers, we should always be discerning, testing what we read against Scripture and against other sources to determine whether such things are true. Even when reading (or listening to) “Christian” sources, we should keep our filters on, carefully testing all things against the Word of God.

Let this be a call to us all to be wise and discerning as we read, listen, and live in a world where things are not always as they seem.